The performing of maintenance on power system networks can be dangerous to field personnel and others without proper precautions. Field personnel may often be working on, or closely to, elements that are regularly energized, and thus pose a great risk to the personnel and others nearby. As a result, such elements are often de-energized prior to work being performed, and re-energized after work has completed. In order to ensure that elements are de-energized and are not re-energized until all technicians are finished with their tasks and safe, traditional methods for locking out terminal units include field personnel physically placing locks that only they can unlock (e.g., via a special key or combination) on designated mechanisms in the terminal unit.
However, such methods are not without disadvantages. In some cases, it may be inconvenient for a technician to be physically on-site at a terminal unit that needs to be de-energized, particularly when work is performed elsewhere. This may result in an increased delay in services and a larger expenditure of resources. The use of physical locks on terminal units may also place the back office of the power network at a disadvantage, as they are unable to monitor the status of the work being performed and are unable to ensure that the proper elements are de-energized.
Thus, there is a need for a technical system to enable monitoring and management of lockouts of terminal units in a smart grid network in a back office system.